The forecast of a record grain harvest and the growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) allow us to project robust growth for agribusiness in 2023. Linked to the optimistic scenario is the development of technology.
Advances, however, take time. According to Alexandre Alencar, Director of Research and Development at Hexagon's Agriculture division, the extremely complex and different operations mean that technology advances in the agricultural sector, especially in relation to automation, are slower.
“I always list at least five steps: pre-planting, planting, fertilizing, spraying and harvesting. There are five different types of autonomy required for a complete autonomous harvest. The complexity of this is enormous and it won’t happen overnight.”
In the past, problems in farming, such as diseases and pests, for example, were detected only through visual monitoring: it was necessary to personally visit the planted area, which made the process much slower and much less efficient. Today, image detection technologies, such as drone flights, with infrastructure that automatically identifies crop failures, are capable of covering large areas in a much shorter time.
According to Alexandre, the use of images allows for more complex and advanced data processing, resulting in better planning for the execution of operations. “Activities that were previously done manually are now being accelerated through the use of images. And behind this we have machine learning and artificial intelligence, which train algorithms that allow for more precise monitoring of areas,” he explains.
Complete automation — in 100% of field activities — is still far from being a reality, but many tools already make the producer's day-to-day life easier. “One of the biggest dreams of producers is to have the machine completely independent of human action, carrying out operations independently. This does not mean ending employment, but increasing agricultural production and leaving the physical work to machines while men take on the intellectual effort”, explains Alexandre.
Although this reality is still far away, agriculture already has several semi-automation elements, and the tendency for the year 2023 is for investments to increase even further.
“In Hexagon’s Agriculture division, for example, the autopilot was developed to help navigate tractors, machines and agricultural and forestry implements, ensuring alignment and minimizing overtaking during planting, application of inputs and cultural treatments”, he explains. .
Another area that should receive attention in 2023 is remote monitoring. “In the past, you would send an army of people to the field, not only to carry out the activity, but also to check whether everything was correct. We had a series of field coordinators, managers, front leaders, who had the mission of checking that the operation was being carried out correctly. Today the activity, even due to the expansion of corporate agriculture, is managed remotely”, says Alexandre.
Through control rooms, in the case of large operations, or through the use of mobile devices, such as tablets or cell phones, in the case of small producers, it is possible to coordinate operations more efficiently.
“We often say that the agricultural control room is almost like an operations tower at an airport. You can see the harvesters and tractors working within specific areas, and at the same time follow the movements of trucks transporting the material- prime for the industry.”
According to the director, in 2023 producers should increasingly invest in technology, as it is possible to maintain better synchronization of all equipment and machines and resolve problems much faster and more accurately.
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